Columbia Symphony Orchestra

About

The Columbia Symphony Orchestra was a name linked to numerous ensembles recording at different times for Columbia Records. The name itself was an artifact from a time in which record labels and radio networks assembled and named their own orchestras, or used the name as a "cover" for the use of an orchestra that was contracted elsewhere. For purposes that concern us here, the "Columbia Symphony Orchestra" name was used by Columbia Masterworks in the 1950's on New York recording sessions with an orchestra comprised of members of the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the NBC Symphony. The label could hire members of those orchestras as freelance players, assemble an orchestra every bit as good as (and perhaps better than) the New York Philharmonic, and pay them for their work without having to pay royalties against sales to the Philharmonic or any of the players other than the conductor or soloist. This orchestra--as it appeared on monaural recordings made by Bruno Walter in New York between 1954 and early 1956 and with other New York-based conductors into the early 1960's--was a good ensemble, a match for the Philharmonic in the studio. Indeed, one of the most highly acclaimed and best selling recordings by Leonard Bernstein on the Columbia label--of George Gershwin's An American In Paris--was a Columbia Symphony Orchestra recording, not a Philharmonic record. However, the Columbia Orchestra which appeared on Bruno Walter's stereo recordings from 1957 onward was something different and very special. Walter (1876-1962) had retired at age 80 after a very successful career with Columbia recording with the New York Philharmonic, where he served as Musical Advisor from 1947 to 1949 and as a frequent guest conductor over the following seven years. In 1957, while living in California, he was approached by Columbia's executives with a new proposal. Told of the advent of stereo recording and the threat that it constituted to the future sales of monaural records, Walter was asked to undertake a new series of recordings in stereo to preserve his interpretations in the most modern sound possible and to allow them to reach new generations of listeners. The result was a new Columbia Symphony Orchestra, chosen specifically by and for Walter. This group was an ensemble of 50 to 70 members, assembled from the best freelance musicians on the West Coast, many of whom typically never took on orchestral work but made the exception to work with Walter. It was one of the best recording orchestras ever assembled in the United States, incorporating many of the best characteristics of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Leipzig Gewandhaus--which Walter had conducted in Austria and Germany during the 1920's and 1930's--as well as the New York Philharmonic. This orchestra recorded much of the core Classical and Romantic repertory under Walter's baton, including the late Mozart symphonies, Mahler's symphonies Nos. 1 and 9, the four Brahms symphonies, Dvorak's symphonies Nos. 8 and 9, Schubert's Ninth, the Wagner orchestral music, and the complete Beethoven symphonies. ~ Bruce Eder Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.) Symphony No. 5 sketches Sony Classical [7] (Bernstein cond.) Brahms Symphonies 1-4 Sony Classical [7] (Walter cond.) Bruckner Symphony No. 9 Sony Classical [9] (Walter cond.) Symphony No. 4 Sony Classical [7] (Walter cond.) Dvorak Symphony No. 9 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.) Gershwin An American In Paris Sony Classical [8] (Bernstein cond.) Mahler Symphony No. 1 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.) Symphony No. 9 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.) Mozart Symphonies 25, 35, 38-41 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.) Schubert Symphony No. 9 Sony Classical [8] (Walter cond.) Stravinsky Rite Of Spring Sony Classical [6] (Stravinsky cond.) Firebird Suite Sony Classical [6] (Stravinsky cond.), All Music Guide

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Columbia Symphony Orchestra Discography (28titles)

Puccini Arias and Others in the Great Tradition [Great Performances] 8/1/06 82876787632 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Brahms: Piano Quartet in G Minor; Bach: Prelude and Fugue, "St. Anne"; 2 Chorale Preludes (orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg) [Great Performances] 6/6/06 82876787462 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 1; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 4 "For the Left Hand" [Rudolf Serkin - The Art of Interpretation] 2/22/05 SK93907 CD Longplay BUY NOW
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 23 & 27 [Rudolf Serkin - The Art of Interpretation] 11/2/04 SK93440 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 [Expanded Edition] 7/27/04 SK92737 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Bruno Walter Conducts Famous Mahler and Bruckner Symphonies (The Original Jacket Collection) 6/29/04 SXK92460 CD Longplay BUY NOW
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 - Expanded Edition 9/30/03 SK93012 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris & Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite - Expanded Edition 9/30/03 SK90393 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 and Violin Concerto, Op. 64 1/29/02 SBK89842 CD Longplay BUY NOW
BUY NOW	BUY NOW	Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor "Unfinished" & Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 9/21/99 SS6506 Super Audio CD BUY NOW
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 9/21/99 SS6113 Super Audio CD BUY NOW	Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" 9/7/99 SS6012 Super Audio CD BUY NOW	BUY NOW
Beverly Sills - Plaisir d'amour 11/24/98 SMK60576 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Essential Classics: Opera Overtures 7/1/97 SBK63053 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Thomas Schippers Conducts Barber/Menotti/Berg/D'Indy 1/14/97 MHK62837 CD Longplay BUY NOW
Stravinsky/Rochberg: Violin Concertos 7/25/95 SMK64505 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Wieniawski/Bruch/Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos 5/16/95 SMK66830 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Rudolf Serkin: The Legendary Concerto Recordings (1950-1956) 7/30/91 S3K47269 CD Longplay BUY NOW
Puccini Without Words 1/1/91 MDK46285 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Opera Without Words 12/5/89 MDK44999 CD Longplay BUY NOW	When You Wish Upon A Star: A Tribute To Walt Disney 1/17/89 MK37200 CD Longplay BUY NOW
Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky 4/19/88 MK42432 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Stravinsky: Petroushka (Original 1911 Version) & The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) 3/1/88 MK42433 CD Longplay BUY NOW	Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements & Symphony in C & Symphony of Psalms 3/1/88 MK42434 CD Longplay BUY NOW
Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik; Opera Overtures; Masonic Funeral Music 8/25/87 MYK37774 CD Longplay BUY NOW